At $4 a pop you can get a pre-fab, "like it" size (as opposed to "love it" or "gotta have it" sizes) ice cream mixed with a previously chosen selection of Cold Stone's toppings. Or starting at $3, you can choose a flavor and add toppings (of which there are *many*) at will.

You will wait for this pleasure. In Manhattan, you will wait out the door for up to an hour. Fortunately, in Astoria, you'll probably only wait about 10 minutes. The staff entertain you by singing every time they get a tip. All of them, in unison. They have lots of songs, too. This is perhaps the salvation of Cold Stone. Their staff get *mad* tips. If you've ever worked in food service (and if you haven't your karma stinks) you get it.

Cold Stone has some unique flavors going on, including "cake batter" and "apple pie filling". After waiting in line behind a rather unconversational hipster-yuppie blend (HYUB?), I ordered the pre-fab "Germanchökolätekäke". The dude who made my Germanchökolätekäke must have some biceps - that stuff is cold! They tried to upsell everyone who ordered before me - but not me. This might be because I commented on dude's potential biceps.

Dude then put the ice cream on a cold stone counter - hence the name - and added all the fillings in the Germanchökolätekäke including an entire brownie. Since I didn't upgrade to the waffle cone, it came in a styrofoam cup. Styrofoam? Come on. It's not a cooler at a NASCAR event.

My Germanchökolätekäke was okay, but I couldn't finish it. Not a good sign. That might be the first time its ever happened, actually.

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"Cold Stone Creamery is recalling its ice cream products containing cake batter following reports of people becoming ill in four states. The company, headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Food and Drug Administration said the cake batter products may be associated with outbreaks of salmonella...."